Today's prompt is to "write a poem that responds, in some way, to another."
Precarity
River's low right now.
Rocks that usually lie hidden in water
jumble the shore white as clouds
as if from another planet.
It's the strangest place to be in.
Ebb flow
season after season after season
water just another commodity to be shackled priced
sold to the highest bidder.
In a world that feels this way, the soul knows something is wrong.
Cancer surgeries are being cancelled
because Covid patients are taking all the beds
and travellers, tired of being away from home
are sneaking across the border in droves.
You can't sleep in a hotel anyway.
And yet I greet each day with coffee
brought to me by my beloved
each day one less in the story of our lives
the trajectory of which we are uncertain.
But still a new day.
And I am grateful
*
The italicized, indented lines, in order of their appearance, are from the following poems in Janet Gallant's and Sharon Thesen's The Wig-Maker, New Star Books, 2021
–cold calling
– the neighbour
– the visit
– to go to 2002, Windsor
§
3 comments:
Your poem stands alone without their lines as well, Linda...
Ha! So I see, now I’ve looked at it that way. But I read The Wig-Maker recently and it’s an incredible collaboration so it’s my little shout-out!
Yes, you've made a completely 'new' poem with its own unique take on the state we are currently in, Covid-wise, with The Wig-Maker lines as a profound running commentary on it all. It is a wonderful collaboration and you have written a beautiful shout-out for it!
Plus, I love poems which end with coffee and gratitude for some reason, a combination which affirms that as long as we have our beloved making us coffee while waking up to a new day, this tired old world is still bearable and beautiful.
Post a Comment